Credentialism

7/5/2007

I was in my neighborhood bookstore the other day and came across an interesting book. What caught my eye wasn't the title. It was the line beneath the author's name.
     A writer for the Wall Street Journal.
     I found this line interesting because, when I look at the cover of a book, I am used seeing something like...

     - The editor of The Wall Street Journal
     - The author of _____
     - The CEO of _____

...beneath the name of the author. The phrase "A writer for the Wall Street Journal" has to be the most banal set of credentials that I have ever seen.
     However, it does point out the power that even the weakest of credentials can have in influencing a person's behavior.
     Credentials work because they represent to the consumer a promise that the gain will be higher than the pain. Nobody wants to get screwed, and most people believe that they will be less likely to be screwed by a well-credentialed person, product, or company.
     That is why scam artists are so intent on acquiring highly-quality credentials (or even low-quality ones like mail-order degrees) and why you so often read about crooks with golden resumes. The quality of those resumes is not an accident.
     When it comes to products and services, the best credentials are those that are unbiased and are conferred upon you by someone else or by the market itself.
     The most compelling credentials, listed in the order of their respective power, are...

     - Most widely-used
     - Best-selling
     - First
     - Award-winning
     - Top-rated
     - Largest

These six Power Phrases work to different degrees and for different reasons.
     "Most widely-used" and "Best-selling" are the most compelling credentials because they leverage the fact that people like to go with the winner. Most people buy what everybody else is buying, and "most widely-used" and "best-selling" help people figure out who that is. Their power is derived from the fact that it is the MARKET that is endorsing the product, not any potentially-biased individual or company.
     Jack Welch knew this when he mandated that GE would sell any business whose products were not #1 or #2 in the market. It is just too hard to be #3 in most markets because human nature is working against you. Most people want to go with the winner, and the #2 brand will be the choice of most of the contrarians.
     "First" is nearly as powerful because it makes an unambiguous claim to originality or expertise. The first product in the category is, by definition, the one that invented it, and people like to buy from experts.
     Think about Chrysler's lead in minivans. It's no surprise. They invented the category. That gave them both a head start as well as real and perceived expertise.
     "Award-winning" and "Top-rated" are compelling because they indicate that some external party has endorsed your product. However, these phrases are not as powerful as the first three because people understand that companies can pay other parties to endorse their products.
     For example, the proliferation of products labeled "A Best Buy" has dramatically reduced the power of that particular credential.
     "Largest" is the least compelling of the six Power Phrases, but it often works because people tend to equate larger selection with a lower risk of dissatisfaction and/or wasted time. They assume that they will be less likely to find that a store does not carry an item or brand if they go to the store with the largest possible selection.
     That explains the rise of the category killer.
     In our time-obsessed society people are less likely to have the time to go from store to store and thus are drawn to larger and larger stores. They trade off multi-acre parking lots for wasted time. For example, I go to B. Dalton if I am in the mall, but I never go there if I am looking for a particular book. In that case I go to my local Hanger-of-Books.
     Some people and companies act as if the term "leading" is a credential. It is not. The problem with the term "leading" is that it is ambiguous and imprecise. It can be either externally-conferred or self-conferred and people know this. Anybody can say theirs is the "leading" product and figure out some way to justify that statement.
     I view any company that uses "leading" to describe their company or products as having either a troubled product or a weak marketing department (or both). If the company had a strong product, then they would be able to say that it was the "most widely used" or an "award-winning" product. If the company had a strong marketing department, then they would either reposition the product and sell it into a category in which it could be the leader or they would redesign it so that it could win an award or two.
     What does all of this talk about credentials mean to you?
     It means that if you want to be successful, then you should take a close look at your product and company. Can you make a valid claim to any of the Power Phrases? If so, then you should use them extensively.
     Use them in your positioning statement. Put them all over your marketing materials. Put them all over your box or packaging if you sell retail. Put them all over your Web site. Talk about them extensively.
      They may not be subtle, but they are effective in most cases.
      However, you should also be careful. Do not claim more than you can. These Power Phrases work because they are unambiguous. That means that it is as easy for you to defend your claim as it for someone to prove that you are lying.